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Post WWII
Conferences and Deals
1943: Teheran
• Stalin is told about Operation
Overlord
• Stalin agrees to invade from the East
• Allies will invade from the West and
South
• Possibility of a United Nations
discussed
Casablanca
• Churchill and Roosevelt met
• Laid out basic goal of demanding
unconditional surrender of Axis
powers
• Stalin agreed when told of the plan
1944: Morgenthau Plan
• Possible post war plan
• Called for total dismantling of
Germany
–Return to 18th century status
• Discarded due to impracticality
• Realized recovery of Germany would
help recovery of Europe as a whole
Feb 1945: Yalta
• Dominated by Big Three
– Stalin
– Churchill
– Roosevelt
• Occupation Plan devised
• Meeting characterized by a lack of
precision which will lead to later
disputes
Occupation of Germany and Berlin
• Germany divided into four parts
• Berlin (in Soviet Sphere) also divided
in fourths
• USA, Britain, France, and USSR each
occupy a portion
• Access to Berlin by Allies not clearly
planned out
• Reparations were discussed at Yalta but
not agreed upon
• Declaration of Liberated Europe made
– Liberated territories could choose their future
through democratic elections
• Poland was ‘given’ to Stalin to do as he
pleased
• An Eastern frontier was established along
old post WWI (Curzon Line)
• Boundaries not finalized
• Stalin promised land in far East
in return for aid in attacking
Japan
–Promised land (in hindsight) was
perhaps unnecessary: Allies close
to victory
July 1945: Potsdam
• After Germany surrendered, before
Japan’s surrender
• ‘New’ Big Three
– Stalin
– Churchill (Attlee)
– Truman (Roosevelt died after Yalta)
• During the conference, Churchill defeated
in elections and replaced by Attlee
• Confirmed arrangements concerning
German occupation at Yalta
• Potsdam Declaration called for
immediate surrender of Japan
• During meeting, first successful
explosion of atomic bomb (testing) by
USA
• Council of Foreign Ministers set up to
sign peace treaties with various
countries
De facto arrangements
• No clear cut treaty signed (like post WWI
Versailles)
• Series of ‘de facto’ agreements were
made
– Atlantic Charter
– IMF
– Council of Foreign Ministers
– UNO (UN)
1941: Atlantic Charter
• Anglo-American ideas of a postwar world
• Stated goals
– Restoration of self-government by territories
conquered by Germany
– Free access to world trade
– Cooperation to improve living standards and
economic security
– stop force and aggression as policy
IMF
• Bretton Woods Conference (1944)
created International Monetary Fund
(IMF)
• Lay foundations for modern monetary
system (based on US dollar)
• IMF World Bank loaned money to
poor recovering countries
Council of Foreign Ministers
• Separate treaties with Hungary, Italy, etc.
• Pay war reparations and minor territory
adjustments
• No treaty ever signed with Germany
• US and Japan sign treaty in 1951
(without USSR)
• USSR and Japan sign treaty in 1956
United Nations Organization
• Large powers dominate Security Council
– Permanent seats assigned
– Power of single veto
– Able to use military force to back decisions
• General Assembly
– All members
– Make broad decisions
The Marshall Plan
• Communism (USSR) dominated
Eastern Europe
– Threatened to take Western Europe
• US secretary of state George Marshall
posed plan to help economic recovery
in Western Europe
– Help resist Communism
• Plan worked very well for those that
took part in the plan
• About $8 billion of American aid
sent
• Resulted in overall expansion of
some $30 Billion annual output of
goods and services
General State of Affairs
• Eastern Europe mainly
Communism
– Dominated by USSR
• Western Europe mainly democratic
– Influenced by USA and Britain
USSR
• Faced with mass destruction and need
for recovery
• Stalin used old methods to recover
– Forced production
– All opposition purged
• Developed fourth 5-Year Plan
Poland
• Communists occupied ministries
(Polish Workers party)
• Polish people anti-Russian, but had
no choice
• Elections held (as agreed upon) but
were fixed
Hungary
• Anticommunist party (Small holders
Party)
– Increasing economic turmoil hurt Party
• Communist Party (supported by USSR)
purged political opponents and took over
• General Election (fixed) gave power to
Communists
Bulgaria
• During war, Red Army occupied
• Fatherland Front Party (Communists)
dominate
• Elections held (not fixed) and
Communists won
• Opponents purged
Rumania
• Allied with Axis during war
• Defeated by USSR
• Anti-Communists purged
• Elections held (few people left to
oppose Communists);
Communists won (no surprise)
Czechoslovakia
• Tried to remain free but friendly to USSR
• Massive purge of Germans
• Accepted Marshall Plan but rescinded
after Soviet pressure
• Communists purge opponents and win
elections
• Stalin-like plans enacted
Yugoslavia
• Marshall Tito (Communist) popular and
emerged as strongest leader
• Managed to create Communist state
SEPARATE from USSR!!!
• Initially part of Communist Alliances
• Later broke from them and denounced
connections with Eastern Communism
Italy
• Political struggles for a couple years
–Socialist to Monarchy to republic
• Became Republic
• Paid reparations and lost some
territory
• Became part of NATO
France
• Re-established under Charles de Gaulle
• Fourth Republic established
– Weak structure
– Several governments came and went
•
•
•
•
Welfare State Established (Socialism)
Took advantage of Marshall Plan
Fifth republic set up (1958) and still exists
Withdrew from NATO in 1966 (rejoined in
1995)
East Germany
• Russian Zone
– Exiled Communists (from Hitler’s rise)
return and rule
• GDP (German Democratic Republic)
established in 1949
• Communist State
• Walter Ulbricht was single-party ruler
West Germany
• Economic ruin
• War Crime Trials removed leaders
• Brits, Americans, French fused their areas
together by 1948
• Federal Republic of Germany 1949: Free
elections chose Konrad Adenauer as
chancellor
• Allowed to rearm (1954): Joined NATO
(1955)
Berlin
Crisis
• 1948-1949; Soviets attempt to remove
allies from Berlin by setting up a
blockade
• Very tense (WWIII?)
• Berlin Airlift
– US instituted massive airlifts to get supplies
into West Berlin
• Soviets lifted blockade (it failed)
NATO formed
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
formed in 1949
– Anti-communist alliance
• Collective security in Europe, US,
Canada
• Radio-free Europe & Voice of America
– Radio messages sent to countries behind the
Iron Curtain (pro-Democracy)